Noel (Audley), a young flannel-shirted dude from upstate, is the morose night man on duty at a 24-hour Brooklyn Christmas-tree stand a few days before the holiday. He’s nursing a broken heart, catering to the demands of picky New Yorkers, and waiting for the whole thing to be over. Director Poekel, who financed this film with three years of seasonal work in a (you guessed it) tree stand, brings a captivating realism to the conversations and encounters, and paradoxically builds the faintest and loveliest sense of magic when a good deed for a girl passed out on a park bench briefly opens a window on hope. It’s the kind of seasonal movie that even the most dedicated Scrooge could watch without shame. DCP digital. (BS)

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18: Director Charles Poekel and executive producer William Poekel will be present for a Q&A.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19: Director Charles Poekel will be present for a Q&A with Chicago director Joe Swanberg.